HGF Accelerates Wound Healing by Promoting the Dedifferentiation of Epidermal Cells through -Integrin/ILK Pathway
Figure 2
HGF promotes -integrin and ILK expression in rat epidermal cells. (a) Rat skin tissues transfected with HGF gene on the PUDK plasmid (PUDKH group) and control rats (empty vector (PUDK) group and vehicle (PBS) group) skin tissues were fixed and stained with anti--integrin antibody and fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) conjugated secondary antibody (green) and nuclei visualized with Hoechst 33342 (blue). (c) A representative image is shown. All four groups expressed blue fluorescent protein in epidermal prickle cell or in the granule cell layer in the process of wound regeneration. But, after analysis by Image-Pro Plus 5.0 image analyzer, we found that blue fluorescent proteins expression was greatest in PUDKH group, yielding a statistically significant difference . (b) ILK expression and activity were evaluated in the injured skin treated with HGF gene transfection by immunohistochemical staining and compared to healthy skin from the control animals. ILK expression was observed in healthy skin and was especially abundant in the basal epidermis. After injury, an increase in ILK staining was observed in the wounded area of PUDKH group than in PBS, PUDK, and normal group. (d) A representative image is shown. The results of immunohistochemistry were analysed by Image-Pro Plus 5.0 image analyzer; we found that IOD value was greatest in PUDKH group than in the PBS, PUDK, and normal group, yielding a statistically significant difference .
